mathematics

Ted Harris (mathematician)

Ted Harris (mathematician) is a mathematics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Ted Harris (mathematician) rather than just read about it. In short: Theodore Edward Harris (11 January 1919 – 3 November 2005) was an American mathematician known for his research on stochastic processes, including such areas as general state-space Markov chains (often now called Harris chains), the theory of branching processes and stochastic models of interacting particle systems such as the contact process. The Harris inequality in statistical physics and percolation theory is na…

Key takeaways

Ted Harris (mathematician) belongs to mathematics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Ted Harris (mathematician) to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Ted Harris (mathematician) from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Theodore Edward Harris (11 January 1919 – 3 November 2005) was an American mathematician known for his research on stochastic processes, including such areas as general state-space Markov chains (often now called Harris chains), the theory of branching processes and stochastic models of interacting particle systems such as the contact process. The Harris inequality in statistical physics and percolation theory is named after him. He received his Ph.D. at Princeton University in 1947 under advisor Samuel Wilks. From 1947 until 1966 he worked for the RAND Corporation, heading their mathematics department from 1959 to 1965. From 1966 until retirement in 1989 he was Professor of Mathematics and Electrical Engineering at University of Southern California. He was elected to the United States National Academy of Sciences in 1988.

Selected publications

Books Harris, Theodore Edward (1963). The theory of branching processes (PDF). Grundlehren der mathematischen Wissenschaften. Vol. 119. Berlin: Springer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-642-51868-3. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)

Papers Harris, Theodore; Arrow, Kenneth J.; Marschak, Jacob (July 1951). "Optimal inventory policy". Econometrica. 19 (3): 250–272. doi:10.2307/1906813. JSTOR 1906813. Harris, T.E. (December 1974). "Contact interactions on a lattice". The Annals of Probability. 2 (6): 969–988. doi:10.1214/aop/1176996493. JSTOR 2959099.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Ted Harris (mathematician)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Ted Harris (mathematician) claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In mathematics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Ted Harris (mathematician) before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Ted Harris (mathematician) ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Ted Harris (mathematician)

In research: Ted Harris (mathematician) appears in mathematics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Ted Harris (mathematician) in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Ted Harris (mathematician) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1919 births, 2005 deaths, 20th-century American statisticians, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Ted Harris (mathematician) outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Ted Harris (mathematician)” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Ted Harris (mathematician) in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Ted Harris (mathematician) means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Ted Harris (mathematician) out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Ted Harris (mathematician) in simple terms?

Why does Ted Harris (mathematician) matter?

Because it connects several mathematics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Ted Harris (mathematician)?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Ted Harris (mathematician).